Plated blue utensil.



No. 7l2,49|. Patented Nov. 4, I902.

' G. BRABROOK.

PLATED TABLE UTENSIL.

(Application filed May 8, 1902,)

010 Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

82; BARTON CORPORATION, OF TAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORA- TION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

PLATED TABLE UTENSIL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 712,491, dated November 4, 1902.

Application filed May 8. 1902. Serial No. 106,382. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE BRABROOK, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Taunton, in the county of Bristol and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Plated Table Utensils, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to table utensils; and it consists in sundry improvements in construction which lend increased durability and improved appearance to plated tableware.

In the drawings hereto annexed, which illustrate the application of my invention toa table-knife, Figure 1 shows inelevation and partly in cross-section a table-knife manufactured according to the practice heretofore prevailing, and Fig. 2 is a similar view of a table-knife embodying my present improvements.

2o Heretof ore plated table utensils, such as table-knives, which comprise a blade of steel or iron fixed in a handle-shell of the usuallyemployed light-colored non-corrodible metal, have been so constructed that the ordinary 2 wear of use, cleansing, &c., rubs the plating from the exposed portions of the dark-colored and corrodible steel or iron of which the blade is composed, exposing portions of this corrodible metal, which very soon rusts and go discolors thecontiguous silver-platin g and by its strong contrast with the bright and lustrons silver with which the utensil is plated gives the utensil an unsightly appearance, causing it to look very much more worn and 5 old than is really the case. The effects of this wear and corrosion are oftenest seen in table-knives where the steel at and near the junction of the handle and blade becomes exposed, as aforesaid, for the reason that in 40 the knives constructed in the ordinary manner these steel portions project beyond the general contour of the utensil at this point and are thus subjected to wear and abrasion.

My improvements enable the manufacturer 5 of tableware to produce a utensil which will not develop these undesirable features, butwhich will, on the contrary, preserve a uniformly bright surface until in the inevitable course of things the plating becomes gener- 5o ally worn out.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, there is shown for the purposes of illustration and contrast portions of a table-knife manufactured in the old way. The blade A is provided with an enlargement or bolster B, which usually has two projections or flanges b b, and a tang T, extending downward from the bolster into the handle-shell H and serving as part of the means whereby the handle and blade are secured together. Solder or spelter is run into the handle-shell around the blade-tang T, as at S, and binds the two main portions of the knife or other utensil securely together. If, as is usually the case, the handle H is composed of 1i ght-colored noncorrodible metal, such as is ordinarily employed as the basis of silver-plated ware, while the blade Aand bolster B are composed of steel, in the ordinary wear of such a utensil the projecting portions 1) b of the steel bolster B take a large part of the wear of the utensil, and the silver plate very soon becomes worn from all these portions, the steel is exposed and straight-way begins to rust and to discolor not only itself, but the surrounding silver-plated portions of the knife. Wear on the non-corrodible metal, (which is usually light-colored,) which composes the hantile-shell H, does not show so readily as wear upon the steel portions, because that metal is not corrodible by moisture and does not become discolored or stained.

I have contrived my improvements in the manufacture of table utensils so that the disfigurements due to wear of the corrodible portions are for the most part avoided, and in Fig. 2 I have shown an illustration of these improvements. The blade A is provided with a tang T, as before, but the bolster heretofore employed substantially disappears and there is left at the most a narrow shoulder or ledge a. I The handle-shell H, which is composed of non-corrodible sheet metal, '1 construct with a swell or projection h at and near the junction of the handle and the blade, 5 so that as the utensil is used that portion of the steel at ct which is contiguous to the handleshell is guarded or shielded from wear by l the adjacent projection h. This projection is formed by enlarging the handle :00

H to the desired dimensions and providing an integral inturned flange where the handle joins the blade and extends beyond the outer edges and surfaces of the base of the blade A and takes all the Wear and abrasion which heretofore has defaced the easily-corrodible steel of the blade where it has been exposed. As the utensil naturally lies on its side, the side projections 71 are perhaps more essential than similar projections at the front and back of the knife. Nevertheless, I consider it advantageous to protect the steel as aforesaid on all sides.

The specific construction above described may be departed from without dispensing with or losing the benefit of my invention, which is characterized by the protective projection of the non-corrodible silver-plated metal of the utensil-handle, which does not show wear, at and near the otherwise exposed steel which does show wear and corrosion, especially at the point where wear and corrosion discolor-s and disfigures the utensil.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a utensil a combination with a blade of corrodible metal, of a handle of non-corrodible metal provided with a projection integral therewith, and projecting beyond the outer confines of the blade where the latter is joined to the handle, substantially as described.

2. In a utensil, the combination with a blade of corrodible metal, having at its base a tang, and a narrow shoulder surrounding said tang, of a handle of non-corrodible metal provided with a socket for the blade-tang, and with a projection integral with the body of the handle circumferentially surrounding said socket and extending beyond the shoulder of the blade, substantially as described.

3. In a utensil, the combination with a blade of corrodible metal, of a handle of noncorrodible metal, the said handle provided with an integral projection formed as an enlargement thereof, and an inturned, integral flange where the handle joins the blade, the said projection extending circumferentially beyond the outer confines of the blade, substantially as described.

Signed by me at Taunton, Massachusetts, this th day of April, 1902.

GEORGE BRABROOK. [L. s.]

Witnesses:

GEORGE E. CHAMBERS, BENJ. B. PIERCE. 

